The regular season showdown is over, and the Los Angeles Clippers, who are eighth in the West, have to play playoffs to fight for a ticket to the playoffs. According to the corresponding rules set by the league, the Clippers only need to win one game from reaching the playoffs. That is to say, the Clippers' victory in the first round of the playoffs will qualify early and lock in the seventh position in the West, and the first round of the playoffs will be against the Memphis Grizzlies. However, how can the Timberwolves, which have risen strongly this season, sit idly by and give up their tickets to the playoffs?
Yes, the Timberwolves are still in very good shape this season, having already torn off the label of the league's fish belly, and before that, they can also rank seventh in the West with a record of 46 wins and 36 losses, and only one step away from getting tickets to the playoffs in advance. And this home to accept the Challenge of the Clippers, Tyren Lu in a pre-game interview, once said that it is necessary to reduce mistakes and strive for more rebounds, so that there are more opportunities to win the game. However, the development of this game has backfired.
In the first half of the game, although the Clippers were able to take the lead in the form, with the help of Paul George and Powell in the team, they delivered a 26-20 score in the first quarter. But the Clippers, who achieved a raucous victory, soon encountered a strong counterattack from the Timberwolves after entering the second quarter. Edwards was hot, delivering 8 points and 2 rebounds at the cost of three fouls in a single quarter, while Russell showed an unparalleled big heart, giving up a valuable 14 points with a 100% shooting percentage in a single quarter. With the successive efforts of the twin stars in the team, Wolves successfully played a 33-25 score and seized the initiative to take the lead.
Easy to fight again, the Clippers, who are in a backward state, can also counterattack accordingly, and in the third quarter with the help of George's great power, 17 points of scoring contribution, played a 33-25 score, to regain the initiative of the lead. Until the final quarter of the tiebreaker, the Clippers maintained a six-point lead and were clearly better off winning the game. Meanwhile, Towns also received his sixth foul in the first half of the fourth quarter and had to clock in early to leave work. But what people did not expect was that the stubborn Timberwolves actually played more and more tenaciously, and the last quarter relied on the successive threats of the Twin Stars to send a 31-20 score!
In the end, the regular time of the fourth quarter was completed and Wolves completed the final quarter reversal to win the game with a score of 109-104. Looking back at the game, Paul George can be said to have done his best, fighting 41 minutes in a single game without overtime, sending a game-high score of 34 points, as well as 7 rebounds and 5 assists, effectively helping the team alleviate the overall scoring pressure. However, it is regrettable that in the final quarter of the decisive victory, the team could not lead the team to continue to stabilize the situation, and it was still regrettable that it was reversed by Wolves. In fact, the Clippers' situation in this game should not test Tyrenlu's pre-game worries: the team won 10 rebounds and made 17 turnovers in a single game.
Not only that, according to statistics, the Timberwolves scored 36 points in this game, 12 points more than the Clippers, 10 steals in a single game, and 5 more opportunities to counterattack than the Clippers. There is no harm without comparison, and a casual mistake and a scramble for rebounds may determine the direction of the whole game. Obviously, the Timberwolves are really doing a good job of these things. And winning the game, the Timberwolves can qualify early, and the first round of the playoffs will challenge the second-placed Grizzlies in the West, but the Clippers are in trouble.
That's right, the Clippers have only one last way to make the playoffs, and that's to play an absolute advantage and win the game in the final playoffs. However, after winning the game, they will face the Phoenix Suns, who have a regular season record of no. 8 in the West. As early as last season's Western Conference Finals, the two teams had already met, and the Clippers were almost without suspense to become the losing side. And if the first round of this playoffs meets in advance, what kind of state should the Clippers face?